3

Gilberts food hygiene rating

Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen · Canterbury City

Gilberts holds a 3: generally satisfactory. The restaurant met the legal standard, but the inspector recorded enough minor issues that it fell short of a good or very good rating.

The rating: 3 - Generally satisfactory

The rating dates from 12 January 2026, 5 months ago. Councils typically re-inspect higher-risk businesses every six months to two years, with well-run, low-risk places visited least often, so this is a normal gap.

Address: 19 Oxford Street, Whitstable, Kent, CT5 1DB

How it compares in Canterbury City

In Canterbury City, 78% of rated places manage a 5, so Gilberts sits behind roughly 1,346 nearby businesses. 8% of the borough shares its 3.

Every rated food business in Canterbury City
5 out of 5 1,161 78%
4 out of 5 185 12%
3 out of 5 120 8% ← Gilberts
2 out of 5 14 1%
1 out of 5 2 <1%
0 out of 5 1 <1%

A further 166 businesses in the area are awaiting inspection or exempt, so are not counted above.

What the inspector found

An inspection scores three things: how food is handled, the physical condition of the premises, and how much the inspector trusts management to keep standards up. At Gilberts none of the three raised a concern, the overall rating is only ever as strong as its weakest area, so a clean sweep is what produces a high score.

Food hygiene ratings nearby

The closest food businesses to Gilberts, nearest first, so you can see how it compares to its neighbours.

Business Distance Rating Inspected
Garage Coffee Ltd Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen 9 yards away 5 - Very good 14 February 2025
Blueprint Coffee Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen 35 yards away 5 - Very good 21 December 2023
Amedea Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen 49 yards away 5 - Very good 18 July 2025
Castellum Pizzeria Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen 54 yards away 5 - Very good 10 December 2025
Inclusive Sport (After School Club) School/college/university 73 yards away 5 - Very good 5 February 2025
Co-Op Retailers - supermarkets/hypermarkets 123 yards away 5 - Very good 8 March 2024
Drift Bistro Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen 147 yards away 5 - Very good 11 June 2026
British Legion Social Centre Pub/bar/nightclub 194 yards away 5 - Very good 26 April 2018

Questions about Gilberts

What is Gilberts's food hygiene rating?

Gilberts has a food hygiene rating of 3 out of 5 (generally satisfactory), given by Canterbury City Council on 12 January 2026.

Is Gilberts safe to eat at?

A 3 means the restaurant met the legal standard, so it is lawful to eat there, but the inspector recorded issues that stopped it scoring higher. It is the middle of the scale.

When was Gilberts last inspected?

Gilberts was last inspected on 12 January 2026, 5 months ago. Food hygiene inspections are unannounced, and the rating is published by Canterbury City Council rather than by the business.

What did the inspector find at Gilberts?

The inspector scored three areas. Hygienic food handling was rated "generally satisfactory", the cleanliness and condition of the building "generally satisfactory", and confidence in the management of food safety "generally satisfactory". Lower concern in all three is what earns a high overall rating.

How does Gilberts compare to other places in Canterbury City?

78% of the 1,483 rated food businesses in Canterbury City hold the top rating of 5, while Gilberts holds a 3. 120 places in the area share that rating.

Who decides the rating?

Canterbury City Council inspects Gilberts and sets the rating; the Food Standards Agency publishes it. Neither the business nor this site can change a rating, a business that disagrees can appeal to its council, and can request a re-inspection once it has fixed the problems.

Tell me when this changes

The Food Standards Agency publishes only a business's rating today, not what it scored before, and not when it moves. We check every UK rating each night. Watch Gilberts and we will email you the morning after its rating changes.

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Understanding this rating

More food hygiene ratings near here

Gilberts is one of 294 rated food businesses in Whitstable. See every hygiene rating in Whitstable

Canterbury City inspects and rates 1,649 food businesses across its whole area. See every food hygiene rating in Canterbury City

The official record is held by the council: http://www.canterbury.gov.uk

Rating from the Food Standards Agency under the Open Government Licence. Ratings reflect standards found at the time of inspection and can change. If you think a rating is wrong, the official record is held by the FSA and the local authority; corrections there flow through here. How ratings work →